Everything Burns
by Survivor at midnight
Summary: Songfic. Yusei and the gang are attending New Domino High, and Yusei hepls out Akiza when she gets sick.Suckish summary, song used is Everything Burns, I don'd own anything but the laptop this story was typed on.


**A/N: **hi guys! Sorry, but I'm going to have to remove the lyrics to the song. If you want, you can listen to the song while you're reading the part originally with the song. Here's the link: www. youtube watch ? v = o

Akiza Izinski arrived at school that day, ignoring all of the whispers and stares. She had become immune to them over time. By now, it was nothing new at all. She sat through each class, quietly doing her lessons until lunch. Quite often she caught herself looking at a certain turbo duelist from the Satellite – Yusei 'Shooting-Star' Fudo. He was certainly gifted, she gave him that much. After all, not many can survive both a duel with Jack Atlas and herself in the same day.

Akiza took her lunch outside to the courtyard, and sat in her usual spot – near the East edge of school grounds, next to the groove of trees. It was one of the few places left in the city that she could relax and escape the judging stares and murmured rumors. Sighing, she put down her half-eaten lunch and turned her head to the sky. Soon enough, someone came to pester her yet again. A shadow fell over her face as a person loomed over her.

"Hey, Black Rose Witch, ya up for a lil' duel?" came the cocky voice. Turning her head a bit to fully look at the person disturbing her, she began to analyze him.

_'Tall, about 6'3, and very thin for a boy his age. Probably weighs between 90 to 100 lbs. Doesn't look much older than me, and his attempt at street slang means he's probably some rich person's son who wants to look tough for whatever reason.'_

Out loud she scoffed and stood up. "Bring it on."

* * *

Yusei was eating his lunch with his friends Jack, Crow, and Kalin when they heard a loud explosion coming from the far East side of the courtyard.

"Hey, did you guys see that?" Crow asked, turning to look at the smoke rising up on the school grounds.

"Yeah. I think I see Duel Monsters, but that explosion looked and felt too real to be computer generated." replied Kalin, shading his eyes.

Yusei's eyes narrowed as an idea came to his head. _'Could it be her again? The one everyone calls a witch?' _Standing up swiftly, Yusei walked towards the plume of smoke, abandoning his uneaten lunch.

"Yusei, where are you going?" called out Jack.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Yusei called over his shoulder, hopping onto his duel runner. Not waiting for a response from his friends, he gunned the engine and sped off.

Soon enough, Yusei found that Kalin was right, there was a duel going on. But the area surrounding it was full of scorch marks and craters, like the attacks were real.

"…Come forth, Black Rose Dragon!" Yusei heard a girl's strong voice call out. Carefully he pulled up his runner next to a tree and walked through the groove of trees there. Soon enough, he saw the girl everyone called a witch and her ace card, Black Rose Dragon. Her burgundy hair was free of the large metal clip he often noticed holding her bangs up, and her eyes were full of fire and malice, leaving no room for sympathy to show through.

"Go, Black Rose Gale!" Yusei's eyes widened in shock as a violent wind overtook the battlefield, pulling leaves off the trees, and destroying the opposing monster, and harming it's wielder to the point he collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

* * *

"Go, Black Rose Gale!" Akiza inwardly smirked in triumph as she saw her opponent fall to the ground. Suddenly, she felt exhausted, tired to the point of passing out. Panting heavily, she staggered back to her things, moving to clean up. Just then, a shadow moved in the corner of her vision. Whipping around, she drew out her Black Rose again, and stood, poised to summon it again at a moment's notice. The shadow took a step forward, and another, until she could fully see who had been watching her. She gasped.

"Yu-Yusei…" Akiza panted. Her eyes narrowed. She didn't want to deal with whatever cynical comment he had to say. Just as she was about to summon her dragon, Yusei surprised her.

"Are you alright? You look tired." She risked a good look in his eyes, and found no trace of judgment or condemnation in them. Instead, she only saw kindness and a bit of understanding.

"Wh-Why would…you…care?" she asked, lowering her card. He looked away.

"To be perfectly honest, I don't know why. I guess…you just…intrigue me." He smiled a little. "You're different. Not like anyone else I've ever met. I've seen you duel before…" his smile faded. "…and heard the rumors. I…never would have thought…they were…true…"

Akiza felt rage and hate fill her again. So he agreed with them, too. She heard the blood rushing through her ears, blocking out the sound of his voice, still talking. She didn't care, though. And she didn't want to hear any more.

"You…you're another one of them…" Akiza spat, pouring all of the venom she could into her words, raising her card again. "You know what? I don't even care. I'll take you down too! Come forth, Black Rose Dra…" she fell, the last of her energy gone. Black Rose Dragon appeared for a second, roaring, before fading away.

* * *

Yusei caught Akiza as she fell to the ground. _'She must be tired from using her powers so much.'_ he thought. Gently, he laid her down and removed her duel disk. Picking up her dropped Black Rose card, he gazed at it for a second before slipping it back into her deck. Turning back to the unconscious girl beside him, Yusei touched her cheek to pull away a strand of hair. He jumped a little when he felt the heat radiating off of her skin.

"Yusei?" Said boy turned around to see his friends standing behind him.

"Crow, Jack, Kalin. What are you doing here?" he asked. Jack sniffed.

"We could ask you the same thing! You were gone for a good half hour. We have every right to be worried!" Yusei turned back to Akiza's limp form. He felt Crow walk up beside him.

"Hey…is that…it's…" Crow stuttered, peering over his shoulder.

"It's what, Crow?" asked Kalin, walking up beside Yusei, Jack not far behind. Kalin gasped.

"Yusei, you do know that girl is the Black Rose Witch, right?" he asked, staring at his friend like he was crazy.

"I know, Kalin. And before you say another word, right now she's hurt and running a high fever. If we leave her like this, she just might die." Yusei replied, looking at him. "Could you guys do me a favor and cover for us? I'm taking her home."

"Uh…sure, I guess… But what happens if she wakes up and goes crazy? She could end up wrecking all of New Domino!" Crow yelled.

"She won't. I'll watch over her until she's well enough to leave, alright?" Yusei said, picking up the metal clip for Akiza's hair off of the ground.

"Alright Yusei. I hope you know what you're doing." called Jack as he jumped on his duel runner, Kalin and Crow right behind him.

"So do I." Yusei whispered as he pulled Akiza up behind him on his runner, carefully driving out of the school grounds.

* * *

Akiza's eyes fluttered open slowly. _'Uh…My head hurts…'_ she thought sitting up, letting the cool compress on her head fall onto her lap. Looking around, she took in her surroundings.

She sat on a bed pushed into a corner of the room, a night table next to her. On it rested her hair clip. Still looking around, she fastened it into her hair, letting her see more clearly. The room was pretty much plain, an acoustic guitar sitting next to a hardwood desk and chair set, with a matching dresser. On it lay her duel disk and deck. After making sure her duel disk wasn't sabotaged and that all of her cards were in order, she strapped it on and slipped her deck inside. There was a balcony with a chair on the far wall, facing the door. Carefully, Akiza opened the door and walked out and stood beside the chair. She just stood there for a few seconds, admiring the view. Just then, the door opened. Akiza whirled around and pulled out her Black Rose card.

"Oh good, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Yusei asked, holding a tray of food. Akiza hissed, walking a little closer.

"Why did you help me? You're just like the rest of them, calling me a witch." Yusei looked a little startled before regaining his composure.

"I couldn't leave you outside with a fever as high as you had. I just took you to my place so you could rest. And, no, I don't think you're a witch. You're powers are just…unusual." he said, putting down the tray of food on the dresser. Akiza's eyes widened. So he wasn't like all the rest. He was different.

"So, back to my question, how are you feeling? You used your powers so much that you knocked yourself unconscious at school."

"My head hurts, but other than that, I feel fine." she replied coldly. _'He might be different,'_ she thought, _'but that doesn't means I can trust him.'_

"Well, if that's all, here's some food. You can come downstairs when you're done." Yusei said as he turned and walked out the room. Cautiously, Akiza began to eat. When she brought down the tray, Yusei was sitting at a desk, typing something on a computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard, the characters rapidly appearing on the screen. He stopped, though, when he realizes she was there. They talked for a couple of hours. By then, Akiza had learned about Yusei's time in the Satellite, isolated for the first few years of his life until his foster mother took him, Jack, Crow, and Kalin in. She in turn told him about her powers, childhood, and how she got the title Black Rose Witch. He was a good listener, and understood the pain she went through.

Later, she sat down outside on the balcony with the guitar on her lap. Strumming it quietly, she thought back to her childhood, where she had always been alone. When she compared it to Yusei's life, she quickly became jealous of all the luck he had in finding friends. Then again, he had known the same pain she had as a child. A tune, an old well known song really, began to form in her head, a melody of words flowing behind it. Playing a little louder, Akiza began to sing, not noticing Yusei in the room behind her, watching her intently.

* * *

Yusei looked at Akiza, sitting on the balcony, playing his old guitar, and singing. He never would have thought that behind that cold face lay a beautiful voice. Quietly, so as not to startle her, he walked towards her.

_'So this is how she felt for most of her life.' _Yusei thought. He knew how much it hurt as a child, to be an outcast. Silently, he walked up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder, beginning to sing with her.

* * *

She had noticed his presence a while ago. He remembered this song as well, Akiza noted, as she became very aware of the hand he rested on her shoulder. She listened quietly as Yusei sang the next verse.

A silent tear splashed onto Akiza's hand as she remembered how mad she had been at her father that first day, the day her powers changed her life forever. Her parents had sent her away after that, and she hadn't heard from them since.

* * *

_'She's been abandoned for almost her entire childhood,' _Yusei thought. _'She shouldn't have to go through that anymore. I don't plan on letting her live like this forever.'_ Yusei rested his other hand on her shoulder, gently squeezing it.

* * *

_'I don't want to be alone anymore.' _Akiza thought as another tear splashed onto her wrist. She thought of her options, thinking it would be better for her to stay with Yusei. If he would let her, of course.

* * *

Yusei had seen Akiza crying, although her voice had stayed strong throughout the entire song. His face creased with concern, and he gently took the guitar out of her hands and kneeled down in front of her.

"What's wrong, Akiza?" he asked. Akiza didn't answer right away, her hair hiding her face.

"I-I'm sorry for all the trouble I've been to you, Yusei. And I'm sorry for the way I acted before. I shouldn't have treated you as coldly as I did." she whispered. Yusei took her hand in his and held it tightly.

"It's alright, Akiza. You're life has been just as rough as mine, if not, more. You have every right to be mad at everyone. I just want to help you." he whispered. Another tear slid down her face. Yusei reached up and gently and wiped it away.

"Th-Thank you…Yusei…" she whispered. Yusei gathered Akiza up into a hug and held her, realizing that he broke through the cold outer barrier that she had on for so long.


End file.
